New US sanctions force end of dollar and euro trading on Russia’s main exchange

New US sanctions against Russia have caused an immediate suspension of trading in dollars and euros on the country’s leading financial marketplace, the Moscow Exchange.

New US sanctions against Russia have caused an immediate suspension of trading in dollars and euros on the country’s leading financial marketplace, the Moscow Exchange. The exchange, also known as MOEX, and the Russian central bank rushed out statements Wednesday, a public holiday in Russia, within an hour of Washington announcing a new round of sanctions aimed at cutting the flow of money and goods to sustain Moscow’s war in Ukraine. “Due to the introduction of restrictive measures by the United States against the Moscow Exchange Group, exchange trading and settlements of deliverable instruments in US dollars and euros are suspended,” the central bank said. The move means banks, companies and investors will no longer be able to trade either currency via a central exchange, which offers advantages such as better liquidity and oversight. Instead, they will have to trade over the counter, where deals are conducted directly between two parties. The central bank said it would use data from those trades to set official exchange rates. Many Russians hold savings in dollars or euros, mindful of periodic crises in recent decades when the ruble has crashed in value. The central bank reassured people these deposits were secure.